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I've been toying around somewhat with an alternate history scenario based around Russia, particularly if the Russian Revolution had not happened. It's also my first post here, so bear with me!

Perhaps Tsar Nicholas died tragically around 1900, leaving his much younger (and from everything I've read), more liberal and intelligent brother, Grand Duke Mikhail as the Tsar of Russia. Perhaps, similarly to Alexander II in the case of the freeing of the serfs, Tsar Mikhail realizes that the only way forward for Russia is to change the regime- much better that it be a constitutional monarchy than a republican state, or, god forbid, anarchy.

Most likely, I would wager that Russia would retain the rough orientation of its foreign policy and the alliance with France and, eventually, Britain. Most likely, Russian performance in the war would be somewhat less than sublime, although possibly better than IRL. Tsar Mikhail would be more concerned, in the end, with the survival of the Russian state than with the war as a whole, and may be forced to negotiate a peace with the Germans. If the Germans enforced a draconian peace at the time, well, most of the territory could be won back in the postwar vaccuum, although Poland and Finland would almost certainly be lost, although it's unlikely that Poland could seize the Western Ukrainian and Belarussian territories that it did in the face of a somewhat less embattled Russian polity.

Following the war, there would be a period of considerable social upheaval and disruption, although the Russian monarchy remains in power and there is nothing like the vast carnage of the Russian civil war. Perceived somewhat dimly by much of the rest of the world, Russia spends nearly a decade licking its wounds and developing its economy and infrastructure. Particularly notable is an extensive state campaign based around increasing the ranks and stabilizing the ranks of the 'kulak' peasants- and at the same time, creating conditions to bring millions of the poorer peasants into towns and cities to develop Russian industry.

Russian industrialization continues, despite some difficulties, in the Thirties, and gradually, the Empire rejoins the world stage. Concerned about the rising power of Germany and Japan, on opposite sides, the Russian Empire spends considerable amounts of its resources on expanding and modernizing its armed forces- efforts that pay off in the Far East with decisive victories in border warfare with Japan in the late Thirties, although Russian diplomacy is less successful to the West against Nazi Germany.

Just a starting point, really.
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